Human progress is marked by complexities and challenges, yet it holds a promise of resilience and hope
Suresh Chandra Sarangi
When one opens a newspaper or television channel, it seems like a pall of gloom envelops the entire world. The events that confront us today are depressing. Democracy appears to have degenerated to such a level that politically one feels hopeless. The crisis between democracy and capitalism is becoming more prominent. There is a rise in global inequality. Enough cultural degradation, with malice at one and all, striking at the root of civilization.
The dismal system of justice delivery after a decade or more than a serious challenge within society. A fatigued human society is trying its best to solve the challenges and explore the opportunities, when some are conjuring a desperate future, others dream of a rosy, rebounding one. Amidst all these distressing statistics, there is a ray of hope. The silver lining in the dark cloud is an incredible story of huge success that awaits us.
Hope against Hope
In 50 years enough has been achieved, that has pushed life into a new horizon. Think of the Indonesian Cave tragedy where the students lost their way into a cave and sudden rainfall filled the cave with water and nobody was holding any hope of their survival. The participation of International diving players, at the cost of the death of a veteran, ultimately traced and saved their lives. It was hope against hope.
Mankind won. Nature was tamed. This was enough to suggest that man has cracked the world’s biggest problems and today never felt defeated. This eulogizes the maxim “Man is not made for defeat” as mentioned in Ernest Hemingway’s book, The Old Man and the Sea. In a world beset with endless outrage, hope floats and there seems to be enough solution for the problems of the world.
From atomic war to climate change, from Crisper to Test tube baby, from phone pay to Bitcoins, science and technology are tearing apart the world of ignorance, and man’s victories are countless, against disastrous and catastrophic danger. The unsettled world is changing, changing at a speed never heard of before, and taking giant strides one by one. The fact remains how successfully, man utilizes science and technology for a better future will decide a future for mankind.
The story of grappling with that challenge is a story of the struggle for existence. Let us start with our life expectancy, which was so low, now one lives up to a minimum of 70 years, thanks to the achievement in the field of health and medical science. Let us think of carbon emissions, which were so poor. But as in some countries, there is a definite change in climate change and its impact. A huge population was dying, because of the breaking out of cholera, smallpox etc. The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the deadliest strikes against mankind, tamed after much struggle.
Illiteracy seems to have been thrown into the museum of antiquities and universal education is removing the darkness of obscurantism, medieval sorcery, and poverty. The empowerment of women is a defined progressive achievement, in terms of equality, and freedom, and their rise in each sphere of life is a positive beacon of light for mankind. Our political leadership, though disappointing of late, with public trust collapsing, there is a definite rise in political participation, right to equality, and right to freedom one dies of hunger, due to diseases which are not attended to, and the best in health facilities posit mankind’s hope in future.
Energy Crisis
The journey of discovery has become momentous and the perspective on life has undergone changes, which appeared once with the ravaging changes in the polity, like less government, welfare, inclusive growth, better employment opportunities, healthcare, insurance, life cover, speak one thing, the State serving the humans from cradle to grave.
Problems appear to have gone with the wind. The energy crisis which stared at mankind once, is all agog with a shift to new and renewable energy. The impact of climate change would be less catastrophic now, as steps are tilted toward reducing the rise in global temperature significantly. Energy is cheap and accessible, and the renewables have been built into the system.
A country like Denmark has tackled it most effectively and its experience in controlling greenhouse gases is an illuminating idea for mankind. Governments all over the world are moving towards long-term investment-driven inclusive growth. A major shift in global investment patterns on the lines of the logic of the Paris Agreement has been of late, catching the globe’s attention in a low-carbon, resilient, and sustainable economy. Fintech is solving the issues of time, space, and accessibility.
Now the options are wide open. Mankind has started a carbon price that would be great in arresting emissions, with low expenses. Energy efficiency may be at the center of all policy decisions. For that fossil fuels should not be subsidized, encouraging low-impact methods of transport and taking renewable energy to new heights, sans Trump’s rhetoric may drive all of us to a greener future.
Education has been and will remain so in the future in transporting mankind to a better world. The gender gap and gender discrimination are gradually reducing. For that, children’s education particularly, the education of girl children has to be affordable, and the work-life balance has been improving. One of the biggest issues mankind was confronting was cultural prejudices. Now that has gone and people are embracing differences and multiculturalism is a force to be reckoned with. All countries, minus Trump’s rhetoric now, are encouraging migrants because of their skills.
The biggest advantage of an inclusive economy has been, the working hours of workers and workers’ welfare. About more than 100 years, when Karl Marx’s slogan was a clarion call, “Workers of the world, unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains” had a revolutionary impact, today taxing the rich and giving it to the poor is a more a policy than exception. This has encouraged the participation of workers, and the government now rethought to redistribute the resources, create funds for their safety, and help people to choose their future.
Mankind’s journey from dictatorship to freedom and democracy is a saga of the human spirit. Production is metamorphosed and productivity is making life easier for each one. Of course, at the cost of nature and that is a big price being given.
Inspiring Future
Science and technology have opened and the future is changing the contour of human life. The future appears to be inspiring, more powerful technologies in bio, cyber, and AI have been opening the floodgates of future success. We seem to be moving towards a benign future, though the stakes appear to be high. When our predecessors were bewildered and helpless, in the face of flood and pestilences, we were making forays into Moon and Mars.
There is no fear of turbulent European Middle Ages, or the rise of Saddam Hussein or Hitler as democracy has won the hearts of the people at least in the aftermath of the ‘Arab Spring’. Technology will disrupt everything in the future, from work to international relations. Diseases may be squeezed, and the advances in science and medicine, genetics, and crisper will not only enhance human longevity but the quality of life.
The lives of the bottom billions may change by redistribution of wealth, and the potential available in AI may transform the way we see the world today. That would be a game-changer. The smartphone, the web, and ChatGPT would be crucial in changing the planet Earth for a better human existence. We shall live in our unique planet, ‘the pale blue dot’ as Martin Rees would like to say, stewarding the changes into a just equitable world and a greener, sustainable planet.
(The writer is a former General Manager of Bank of India and currently a visiting professor at KIIT School of Management. Views expressed are personal.)
